Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.

— Psalms 37:37

Monday is Martin Luther King Jr.’s Birthday. For most Americans, it will be just another excuse to take a three-day weekend, watch football and drink green beer.

But if there is one twentieth century American who deserves his own holiday, it’s MLK.

Taking a stand against whitey, in the South, in the ’60s? It takes chutzpah the size of church bells to go up against crackers under those conditions, my friend.

After butting heads with the apparently unbeatable forces of oppression knowing full well that they could kill you, the LEAST we can do as onlookers is give him a holiday.

Sainthood should even be considered. Sound far-fetched? Maybe not.

I always thought MLK was a saint (except for the alleged sexual misconduct, but that was probably made-up by his political enemies to defame him) and now, in what authorities are calling another in a series of bizarre coincidences, the Catholic church and I agree.

At least Catholic bishops in the United States and I agree.

According to a CNN report, King, a solid baptist as many of you know, is one of about a dozen Americans being considered for sainthood.

Apparently the church is trying to get some non-Catholic Christians recognized for dying on behalf of their faith and mankind.

They haven’t done this for a number of years because they always had more than enough of their own to contend with. Time was you couldn’t do a card trick at a child’s birthday party without someone calling it a miracle.

But as time wore on, miracles got harder to come by and kids in Catholic schools started to turn out just as bad as the rest of us. So where ELSE are you gonna look?

I think this is nothing but good and it does validate what many non-Christians have been saying for years, that being a good person should be more important than your religion.

King is like our own personal Jesus, hot and spicy Mississippi-style.

Listening to him, I have a hard time believing that even Christ could have been more entertaining and edifying.

I’m not trying to be blasphemous or anything, but let’s face it, there is an upper end to just how convincing and moving any speaker can be, even the Son of God.

This is not a reflection on God, just the human ability to be moved. You can only get worked up into so much of a frenzy. You can only be moved to so many tears.

Now, I’ve read some Jesus AND some MLK. I’ve seen a film on King and I’ve got about five copies of the “Jesus” tape, so I think I’m qualified to make this comparison. King is by far the more inspirational of the two orators.

I’m sure the Pope wouldn’t go that far but he has to see the benefits of canonizing King.

Not to be cynical, but can you imagine a better PR stunt? Even I might be tempted to convert if I could get my prayers to God through MLK, he rocks.

Not to mention that “Pride (In the Name of Love)” by U2 makes for great inspirational listening. U2 is way better than Jars of Clay or Amy Grant. Christian rock could have a whole new life.

But even with all of this to consider, most of us will just take the day off.

There is going to be a celebration at the Ames Public Library at 7 p.m. on Monday and if you could attend, I’m sure they would appreciate it.

I am a realist. I know most people either have better things to do than honor great spiritual leaders, especially this soon after Christmas.

I would, however, like to suggest that if nothing else works for you, take a little time to think about King and what he stands for. His life and death have meaning for people of all races and religions in this country and around the world.

If you happen to catch a biography of King this weekend while your surfing the channels, don’t just keep on cruising.

Don’t pass up the chance to watch a King speech. There aren’t many speakers in the world who can affect you like that.

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Greg Jerrett is a graduate student in English from Council Bluffs. He is opinion editor of the Daily. He will be doing his thinking about Martin Luther King Jr. in South Dakota. He also wants you to see his play FREE this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Fisher Theater.